After Hours

Abel released a new album last month and you think I won't talk about it? Wrong. ⁣ After slowly teasing us with some varied genre singles like Heartless (the banger that announced our old Weeknd is back), Blinding Lights (which is basically 80s reminiscient synth porn) and After Hours (a 6 minute ecstacy inducing tale of remorse with the perfect pacing, this was for the OG House of Balloons era fans), we finally got the entire album, right in the middle of quarantine and I still can't stop listening to it. ⁣ ⁣ Firstly it's so refreshing to listen to something that completely breaks the monotony of the music we hear today. Today all we are getting are artists trying to go viral on tiktok or trying to game the streaming services. Songs are less than 3 minutes, and all the focus is mainly on the chorus. Millions of mediocre beats are floating around the industry, and the focus is on quantity rather than quality. ⁣ ⁣ In the midst of all this Weekend took his time, almost 3 years in fact since his last album Starboy. He decided to create an album, rather than just songs. A narrative that flows throughout the songs taking is into a deep dive into his dark comedown from all the high he got in his time of peak stardom. We also get an inside look into how he comes to terms with the fact that he made mistakes and let his love go, but he is too far gone to let her back into his life again.⁣ ⁣ Moreover, he took a completely different soundscape. He got the best producers for this album, Max Martin and Metro Boomin, but he always had a hand in the production and made them make the music according to his vision, rather than just jump on their songs. We see him leveraging a very interesting intersection between 80s synthpop, disco interpolated with the trap r&b culture of today. And it works really well. Each songs lends itself to the next one, and the genre switch is seamless, so it actually seems like a journey you're taking with him into his music and mind. ⁣ ⁣ Fav Songs (aside from the 3 singles): Too Late, Escape From LA, Faith, In Your Eyes, Repeat After Me ⁣ ⁣ #theweeknd #afterhours #musicreview #heartless #blindinglights #abeltesfaye #popculture #music